Degree needed for Authorship

[amojan99]

I'm going to start some clinical research this summer and plan on publishing a paper by the end. Since I'm in undergrad right now, I dont have a degree yet. My question is whether this will make a difference when cited for authorship, since I've noticed almost every author has their degree listed. I'm afraid the journal may say that people without a degree cant be listed as authors (although I doubt it, considering that I will be a major contributer to the paper). I've also heard that in such cases undergrad students are listed as having "honorary degrees" or something of the sort. Does anyone have an answer to what happens to undergrad authors of major clinical journal articles?

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[Surg Path]

I'm going to start some clinical research this summer and plan on publishing a paper by the end. Since I'm in undergrad right now, I dont have a degree yet. My question is whether this will make a difference when cited for authorship, since I've noticed almost every author has their degree listed. I'm afraid the journal may say that people without a degree cant be listed as authors (although I doubt it, considering that I will be a major contributer to the paper). I've also heard that in such cases undergrad students are listed as having "honorary degrees" or something of the sort. Does anyone have an answer to what happens to undergrad authors of major clinical journal articles?

I was still in undergrad when I published a paper in Oncogene (pubmed Doane, AS). You don't need a degree. You do need a lot of time.

I have never heard of a person without many previous publications being able to publish a first author paper in a summer. Maybe you can be a middle author on something in a no name journal if you are really lucky. But, realize the peer review process itself takes a minimum of 6 weeks, and that is if you only have slight text revisions. Most big journals will ask for some additional analysis.

Research IS fun though, and you should do it for the love of science. Good luck!

Sorry for the lecture....

 

[uacharya]

No you don't need to have a degree. You can be in the process of obtaining a degree and still be primary author on a paper. My research was funded by the American Society for Microbiology while in undergrad and we published with my name as a primary author.

I'm going to start some clinical research this summer and plan on publishing a paper by the end. Since I'm in undergrad right now, I dont have a degree yet. My question is whether this will make a difference when cited for authorship, since I've noticed almost every author has their degree listed. I'm afraid the journal may say that people without a degree cant be listed as authors (although I doubt it, considering that I will be a major contributer to the paper). I've also heard that in such cases undergrad students are listed as having "honorary degrees" or something of the sort. Does anyone have an answer to what happens to undergrad authors of major clinical journal articles?

 

[DropkickMurphy]

I'm going to start some clinical research this summer and plan on publishing a paper by the end. Since I'm in undergrad right now, I dont have a degree yet. My question is whether this will make a difference when cited for authorship, since I've noticed almost every author has their degree listed. I'm afraid the journal may say that people without a degree cant be listed as authors (although I doubt it, considering that I will be a major contributer to the paper). I've also heard that in such cases undergrad students are listed as having "honorary degrees" or something of the sort. Does anyone have an answer to what happens to undergrad authors of major clinical journal articles?

Put it this way....here's how the authors of my article stack up
1. Me- "associate of science candidate"
2. Ron- who holds a masters degree
3. Mary Ann- who is an MD

So, no, you don't need a degree to be listed.....the only journal I know of that demands it is JAVMA.

 

[RxnMan]

...I've also heard that in such cases undergrad students are listed as having "honorary degrees" or something of the sort...

Honorary degrees are awarded to people who have been in an field for decades and have made significant contributions to it. Or a college may grant one to their commencement speaker. Neither case applies to you.

Worry more about doing a good job on your research and let your PI (that's Principle Investigator, the guy in charge with the Ph.D.,) work on technicalities.

 

[DropkickMurphy]

I've also heard that in such cases undergrad students are listed as having "honorary degrees" or something of the sort.

The way it was done on our paper was:
Stephen R------, CRT, EMT-I
Associate of Science Candidate
Vincennes University
Associate of Science Candidate
IVYTECH Community College

Not an honorary degree, just indicating that you're working on one.....

 

[relentless11]

Researchers have to start from somewhere. So not having a degree is fine. Actually from past experience, the editor actually gave me the title of Dr. in our email correspondences..haha. More recently, I had correspondences with the American Journal of Clinical Pathology, and they also gave me the Dr. title, so clearly shows that they don't care to look.

But on paper, the actual article, it didn't have anything after my name. I served as first author, and second author for several papers as an undergrad for a few decent journals, some of which are peer-reviewed. Some of my undergrads today who hold an AS degree put that in....I guess to just have something after their name.

Ultimately, the 2nd and/or last author (depending on how many authors you have) will mean a lot to them in hte unlikely event that this ever becomes an issue. Because as an undergrad researcher, you should have some mentor (graduate student or post-doc) and/or a PI.

 

[ProZackMI]

Researchers have to start from somewhere. So not having a degree is fine. Actually from past experience, the editor actually gave me the title of Dr. in our email correspondences..haha. More recently, I had correspondences with the American Journal of Clinical Pathology, and they also gave me the Dr. title, so clearly shows that they don't care to look.

But on paper, the actual article, it didn't have anything after my name. I served as first author, and second author for several papers as an undergrad for a few decent journals, some of which are peer-reviewed. Some of my undergrads today who hold an AS degree put that in....I guess to just have something after their name.

Ultimately, the 2nd and/or last author (depending on how many authors you have) will mean a lot to them in hte unlikely event that this ever becomes an issue. Because as an undergrad researcher, you should have some mentor (graduate student or post-doc) and/or a PI.

Ethically, and perhaps legally in come situations, that would be fraud and misrepresentation. I do hope you corrected that mistake and explained you're not a PhD or MD.

 

[RxnMan]

Ethically, and perhaps legally in come situations, that would be fraud and misrepresentation. I do hope you corrected that mistake and explained you're not a PhD or MD.

Almost evry correspondence I've had with anyone in any field I've worked with has referred to me as "Dr. RxnMan" In a scientific setting, almost everyone I've emailed, spoken with, met, etc., I've assumed they were "Dr. So-and-so" unless I knew otherwise. It's a common mistake - heck, every automated email from Cerac or Sigma I get is addressed to a "Dr. RxnMan." Nobody's getting killed/sued/harmed/robbed over it, so get over it.

 

[relentless11]

Ethically, and perhaps legally in come situations, that would be fraud and misrepresentation. I do hope you corrected that mistake and explained you're not a PhD or MD.

You do know that its mostlikely an email response script right? Journals such as JAMA, NEJM, CCM, AJCP do this all the time. Also by force of habit, editors may also use the Dr. title. I suggest you submit a paper to journals such as these to understand the manner which I described, and echoed by RxnMan. The keypoint is my published information is totally unrelated to these email correspondances, and is entirely correct. Your publication information is all on your author release forms, and/or title page (varies between journals) so that is what is published. The editors can care less what title you have, and this is why they use scripts.

Really, I think getting your manuscript accepted is more important than how editors call you after the paper is actually accepted. But if this bothers you that much from a legal perspective, I suggest you contact those various journals and suggest that they create an adaptive script to take into account the numerous non-doctors that submit articles to their journal(s).